TurtleBlocks
Introduction
TurtleBlocks is block computer programming language to create designs for laser cutting or acutting plotter. It is based on turtle geometry invented by Papert and the Logo community.
PictureBlocks is a twin project, “which facilitates the construction of complex geometric designs from simple primitive pictures by transforming (rotating, flipping) picturesand composing them (putting one picture above, beside, or over one another).”[1]. It is based on Henderson's picture language based on functional geometry.
Both these environments aim “to introduce non programmers to computational thinking [5] and give them hands-on experience with techniques like procedural abstraction, modularity, and divide/conquer/glue problem solving.” [1]
Notice: There exists a similar language called Turtle Blocks JavaScript, or sometimes as "Turtle Blocks". Formerly called "Turtle Art", it draws colorful art based on snap-together visual programming elements.
The environment
So far we could not any available software. The Wesley team seems to have reoriented its work on improving MIT App Inventor.
Links
- TurtleBlocks at TinkerBlocks.org, the website of the Wesley team working on block languages.
- Home page of Franklyn Turbak, leader of the the TinkerBlocks research group, whose goal is to democratize computing by creating blocks programming languages that are more expressive and easier to use.
Bibliography
Cited references
Other
- H. Abelson and A. diSessa,Turtle Geometry: the Computer as a Mediumfor Exploring Mathematics. MIT Press, 1981
- M. Eisenberg, N. Elumeze, L. Buechley, G. Blauvelt, S. Hendrix, andA. Eisenberg, “The homespun museum: Computers, fabrication, and thedesign of personalized exhibits,” inConf. on Creativity & Cognition(C&C’05), 2005, pp. 13–21.
- M. Eisenberg, A. Eisenberg, L. Buechley, and N. Elumeze, “Computersand physical construction: Blending fabrication into computer scienceeducation,” inInt. Conf. on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science& Computer Engineering (FECS ’08), 2008, pp. 127–133.
- P. Henderson, “Functional geometry,” in ACM Symposium on Lisp and Functional Programming, 1982, pp. 179–187. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800068.802148
- P. Henderson, “Functional geometry,” Higher Order and Symbolic Computation, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 349–365, 2002. Preprint ?
- S. Papert, Mindstorm: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. BasicBooks, 1980.